


Only You Matter

by SpectraDust



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: I am not ready for Supernova, I swear if this actually happens..., Loss of Powers, Simon being a father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 21:50:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21309181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpectraDust/pseuds/SpectraDust
Summary: Without the Vitality Charm, Simon can't be by Max's side while he fights for his life. One evening while he waits for Hugh to get back with an update on him, everything finally becomes too much for Simon.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Only You Matter

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
> 
> Okay, so, firstly hi. This is my first fic here and hopefully not my last (and hopefully not my last Rendgaes one either.)
> 
> I've had the theory that Simon is going to give up his powers to be with Max for a while and with Supernova quickly closing in, I needed to write my thoughts and theory down because...yeah, I had to.
> 
> I wrote and edit this in a day because Supernova is out tomorrow and I wanted to get it out before the release, please possibly expect some typos and whatnot. If there are any, I'm sorry I'll try and fix it later.
> 
> Lastly, It's been a while since a read a Renegades book so I'm sorry if I got any facts or characterizations really wrong but this is pruely just for fun and as a way for me to vent my silly theory, that I really, really, really hope doesn't become true because I love Simon,

The reception to the hospital was bare, cold and a far too familiar place. Simon took up two of the room's blue, hard and uncomfortable chairs. He spread his legs wide and sat so far down he threatened to simply fall off if he moved anymore and he placed his hands behind his head. He found it to be the only comfortable position in the long, long minutes he waited for Hugh to get back with an update on Max.

Adrian sat next to him but he didn't look at him. He was so small unlike Simon, he only took up one chair and barely at that. He sat tightly together, holding himself like he feared he would fly away if he let go. His elbows were on his knees and his chin on his palms as he just stared out at the tiled floor like he was in the midst of the most intense staring contest with it.

He hated seeing his oldest son like that. He wanted to comfort him, to tell him it was okay, he wanted to see Adrian smile, to hear him laugh...but how could Simon make someone else do those things when he couldn't even do them himself? He wanted to tell Adrian Max would be fine...but he didn't want to lie, didn't want to give him false hope. So instead, they sat in silence. The only sound filling the space was a clock ticking away the agonising minutes and the distance whooshes of cars speeding around Gatlon city.

Approaching footsteps broke the silence and Simon saw Adrian jolt upwards at the sound. He knew he expected it to be Hugh, but Simon didn't move. He's known the man for a good portion of his life so he knows perfectly well what his footsteps sound like.

A doctor with thick-framed glasses just like Adrian's stepped into the reception. Simon perked slightly thinking he was aiming for them but shifted back down when he turns sharply on his heels and heads up to the reception deal to relive the other doctor working there.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Adrian roll his head and very loudly sigh. Simon echoed his sigh but kept it quite. He's meant to be a dad, he's meant to be encouraging at this moment but his youngest son was possibly dying and he couldn't even visit him. He had no will power left for being encouraging.

He couldn't even visit him. The words echo round and round in his mind. He hated himself for misplacing the Vitality Charm, how could he have been so stupid to lose it? It was the most precious thing he could ever have laid his hands on, it let him lay his hands on his youngest son, let him hug and kiss him and now, when he needed it most, he lost it.

Simon kept catching glimpses of Adrian looking over to him. He didn't want to meet his gaze because then he'd have to say something fatherly so he tried to read his look from the corner of his eye.

There was a sort of longing in his eyes. Like he wanted to say something to Simon but kept forcing the words down. He seemed uneasy and on edge but deep down so was Simon, he just had a different way of showing it.

He was going to ask his son what was on his mind but just as he went to open his mouth, Hugh's footsteps snapped his attention back to the hallway.

He didn't know footsteps could sound sad. In all fairness, they likely didn't sound sad and it was just Simon's mind messing with him but from how slow they were, how dragged they were they really did just sound sad.

Hugh's grim look didn't do any favors as he stepped into the dim light of the reception. Simon's eyes widened as he registered the dark look over his partner's face and in that moment the worst possible idea came to his mind.

_Max was dead._ His youngest son was dead and he hadn't gotten to see him, he wasn't able to be near him, he wasn't able to hold his hand and whisper everything was going to be okay.

Heat welled in his eyes just at the thought and Simon jumped up from his chair and lurched forward to close the space between him and Hugh to hear the news on Max as quick as possible.

"How is he?" Simon asked. Hugh shook his head, his blonde locks shaking on his head and instantly dread welled back up in Simon.  He's going to say it. _Max is dead._

"He's..." Hugh started but stopped himself when he bit his lip. He bit down so hard it looked like he would draw blood at any moment and all the while Simon just waited for him to say the words, he's dead.

Hugh sucked in a shaky breath then let it out slowly as he closed his eyes.  "They've put him in a coma but...they don't know. They don't know if he's going to make it. It's too early to say but they're telling us to not get our hopes up."

Simon heard a choaked noise come from Adrian behind him.  He shot his head back and saw his eyes were red and tears were steadily streaming down his face.

Simon sucked his lower lip as tears of his own started to stream down. He wanted to help his son, he wanted to help both of his sons but all he could do was sit there helpless, useless.

_No._ The thought shot through his mind and made him jolt his attention back to Hugh, no...not to him, to the hallway behind him where Max's room would be.  There was a stairwell that would lead to the fourth floor where Max was kept far away from any prodigies.  As he looked to the staircase that seemed to call his name another thought brushed through him. It was a thought he had had for a while but know he knew it to be true, it wasn't a thought it was a fact as well known that you need oxygen to live.

_He needed to see his son._ He could see Hugh's lips move but he heard no sound.  All he could focus on were the stairs leading up to the room where his dying son was kept away from them.  His dying son. The words echoed round and round in his head and got louder with each bounce.  In that moment nothing else mattered, the Dread Warden didn't matter, all the mattered was his son.

And then he was running. "Simon?" he heard Hugh's confused voice. "Simon!"

He ignored him, he didn't even look back, he couldn't look back, all he could do was run. Run to where Max was fast asleep in a coma, to where his youngest little boy was dying.

He heard Hugh's and Adrian's footsteps run after him as he hammered up the steps, practically flying up them.  Adrian. He couldn't go see Max, he didn't want someone so young, someone, who had so much possibility behind their life to lose their powers because of him.  The Dread Warden had done his time, being a father was more important.  Being by his dying son's side was more important than turning invisible and wearing a mask to fight bad guys.

"Simon what are you doing?!" It was Hugh again, his voice was close he was almost on him but Simon was almost to Max's room.

401...402...403...there 405.

He didn't know if the door was locked, he didn't care. He sent a leg out to where the lock was to bust it down. It burst open with enough force that should've woken Max up. It didn't of course because Max wouldn't wake up for a long, long time.

"Dad! What are you doing, you don't have the Vitality Charm...you're powers..." Adrian's voice trailed off alongside his footsteps as he stopped by his side.

Simon stopped and turned his gaze from Max to Hugh and Adrian, both who looked to him with fear like he'd just gone insane and in all fairness, he had. But underneath the fear and confusion, he saw something. Something that might've been understanding.

Even in the doorway to Max's room he could feel himself become weak, feel his powers start to lurch out of him. It was like the air around him was being sucked away, he didn't care though.

He wanted to push Adrian away, surely he must be feeling the effect too. He'd already had one too close run-in with Max and he didn't need him to have another but he couldn't choose for him. If he wanted to be by Max's side like Simon was now, then he would let him. He couldn't reprehend Adrian for doing something so stupid if he was going to do it first himself.

"Think about this Simon," Hugh said and slowly reached his arm out and waved in down as if to try and calm Simon. "We aren't sure what's going to happen to him yet, you - you might be able to find the charm and...' He trailed off and madly shook his hand with his head. It was sad to see Hugh - Captain Chromium someone who usually had so much composure just lose it all in a split second.

Simon placed a hand on Hugh's shoulder and for the first time, he saw how much he was shaking. Whether it was from fear or the effect of Max's power he didn't know. "Being the Dread Warden doesn't matter if it means I can be by my son's side in his final moments."

"We don't know if-" Hugh started but Simon cut him off.

"What if they are though? Hugh, I'll never forgive myself if Max's dies and I wasn't by his side just because I lost that damn charm. Please." He squeezed Hugh's shoulders. "Let me do this."

"I was never going to stop you," Hugh said sadly and shook his head again. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you're doing."

"I know," Simon said without missing a beat then flashed a wavering smile. "I know," he whispered.

He took one last long look to his partner and his oldest son, held his smile as he sucked in a deep breath, held it then stepped into Max's room.

The effect was instant. His legs buckled so much it was like walking into a wall, but he held strong grit his teeth and kept going to reach Max's bedside.

He heard movement behind him and glanced back to see Hugh push Adrian to the side. He mouthed something, likely telling him to stay put then slowly walked into Max's room and closed the space between him and Simon in seconds.

Once he reached Simon, he placed one arm around his waist and the other on his forearm to hold him up and help him walk to Max.

"Thank you," Simon breathlessly muttered. 

Even though it had been years ago since he felt the effect when he first found Max, he didn't remember his powers being this effective. It was like someone had taken all the oxygen from the room and then replaced it was some sort of narcotic. His eyelids were heavy and he all of sudden he felt very, very sleepy but he forced himself to stay awake and to continue his slow march - which was more of a shuffle at this point - towards Max.

What kept him going was the knowledge that this could be the last time he got to hold his son while he was still warm, while he was still alive and the closer he got to Max's bed _alive_ didn't even seem like the right word to use. He was so, so pale, almost every blue vein in his body was visible. His chest rose and fell too slowly and not enough each time. The sight was horrifying and painful to look at but everything would be better once he got to touch him, to feel the heat that shouldn't be there and to know he was still alive.

The closer he got to Max's bed the better he started to feel. He knew it was because his power was quickly being drained and sooner rather then later he wouldn't be a prodigy anymore and Max would have no effect on him. The thought did bright heat to his eyes but he mentally shook himself. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, only his son.

As he reached the side of Max's bed, he practically collapsed by it. He let go of the breath he had held and slowly sucked it back in again. For a long moment, he just breathed. In and out, in and out, in and...he felt fine. It was like an unseen weight was just lifted from his shoulders, like he never felt the effect of Max's powers in the first place, he was just fine.

He knew why though. He no longer had any powers for Max to take, he was no longer a prodigy susceptible to the effect of Max's power, he was no longer the Dread Warden, but it didn't matter.

He rose to his feet which were still shaking from fear, and as he stood to his full height he sent a shaky hand down to cup Max's cheek. He was cold, colder then he should've been but deep, deep down a warmth was still there in him, desperately fighting to win and get through.

"Oh my boy," Simon muttered as he bit his lip and tears streamed down his face and splashed down onto the white sheets of Max's bed.

Hugh's arm was on him again and started to gently rub up and down as he stared down to his son that he would've believed to be dead if his chest didn't slowly, ever so slowly rise and fall.

For the longest time, with Hugh by his side and Adrian lurking by the doorway (he was still worried about Adrian getting affected by Max's power even from that distance but his brain wasn't in the right place to voice his concerns) he just looked down to his dying son and stroked his messy blond hair that still had still traces of dried blood in it.

He had lost his powers, he was no longer a prodigy, no longer a superhero, no longer the Dread Warden but that all didn't matter. He could still fight the good fight in his own way, he would still find a way to make Nightmare pay for this, but all of that didn't matter either. What mattered was being a father, being by Max's side in his time of need, just being there for him, being able to hold him in what could possibly be his last days. That's all that matters, he was a father and a husband first and foremost, not a superhero. Hugh and his sons were all that mattered to him.


End file.
